Nutley holds line on taxes, but lays off 20

NUTLEY - The township is planning to lay off about 20 municipal workers, including five police officers, at the end of this year in order to achieve a budget that does not raise municipal taxes.

The township has a 2011 budget of $45 million, about $38 million of which comes from taxes, said Tom Evans, revenue and finance commissioner. The board of commissioners needs to eliminate about $2.75 million from the budget to keep municipal taxes from rising this fiscal year, he said.

“I have many residents saying they are struggling to make ends meet. They are paying their taxes, but they tell me it’s getting harder and harder,” Evans said. “We want to do all we can for the residents, and this is something we believe we can achieve this year.”

The average home in Nutley is assessed at about $351,000, and the municipal tax levy for a home with that value is about $3,400, Evans said.

Other Essex County municipalities are dealing with similar issues. West Orange also passed a budget this year with no increase in municipal taxes, though it did not have to lay off any workers.

Nutley police officers are planning to stage a demonstration tomorrow outside the board of commissioners meeting to protest the planned layoffs of five junior patrolmen, about 19 percent of the town’s police force, said Mike O’Halloran, president of the Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 33.

The other 15 workers being laid off come from the fire, parks and public works departments, Evans said.

The layoffs would leave the town with fewer than 60 officers, a number below the department’s minimum safety requirements, O’Halloran said, adding that fewer officers will mean a reduction in services for residents.

“It’s not about getting raises, it’s about public safety,” he said. “We care about the residents and this is going to put the public safety at risk.”

The layoffs in the police department could potentially be avoided if the unions agreed to forgo raises this year, Evans said, adding that so far they have resisted.

Although layoff notices were handed out earlier this month, they don’t go into effect until the end of December. Before then, there is still room to negotiate with the police unions, said Alphonse Petracco, public safety commissioner in Nutley.

“I hope in our township that we are exhausting all avenues, because I think fire and police should be the last resort to cut,” Petracco said Friday. “We can’t keep going to the taxpayer and saying, ‘We need a little more.’”